India says fired at from Pakistan side, 1 killed

SRINAGAR (Reuters) - An Indian soldier was killed in cross-border firing in Kashmir, an Indian security official said on Monday, though Pakistan denied any violation of a six-year-old ceasefire in the disputed region.

It was not clear whether the firing on Sunday night was from separatist militants trying to sneak into the Indian side of Kashmir or from Pakistani troops.

India has in the past accused Pakistani troops of cross-border firing to help militants cross the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir between the two countries to join a nearly 20-year revolt there. Pakistan denies the accusation.

"A soldier fell to bullets fired from across the Line of Control late Sunday," an Indian army official, who did not wish to be identified, said.

The shooting took place in the Poonch sector of south Kashmir.

A Pakistani military official denied any violation from the Pakistani side.

"It's a wrong allegation," said the Pakistani official, who declined to be identified.

The ceasefire in Kashmir, launched in 2003, has largely held although there have been violations in recent months.

Ties between the nuclear-armed countries have chilled since attacks in Mumbai in November blamed on Pakistan-based guerrillas.

India has resisted calls to resume peace talks demanding Pakistan act against militants accused of carrying out acts of violence in India.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met for the first time since the Mumbai attack on the sidelines of a regional conference in Russia this month.

They agreed that their top foreign ministry officials would meet soon and the countries' political leaders would hold talks on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt in mid-July.

The neighbours have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.

(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony in Islamabad)